Farouche

December 16, 2014

The concept

The Farouche is an open top snowmobile ‘trailster’ that looks like a vintage convertible muscle car. It would be equipped with a two-stroke Rotax triple cylinder 1200 cc E-TEC engine that would develop over 250hp.

The background

Back in 1974, Ski-Doo built a prototype vehicle called the Mirage. It looked like a Lamborghini meant to be ridden on snow, and it sparked our imagination for what was to come in the future for snowmobiles. Over the years, I always thought about riding that vehicle, but snowmobile manufacturers never went that direction. The Mirage was not meant to be ridden fast, and it was an enclosed vehicle.

How it works

The Farouche is equipped with an ultra-light aluminum frame. Its body is made of reinforced carbon fibre. The body and frame are designed to complement each other and lower the snowmobile’s overall weight.

The engine would come from Rotax. Hypothetically it would be a new version of its existing 800R E-TEC engine, adding one cylinder and increasing total power output to 250hp.

I thought about using a four-stroke version like the Ski-Doo Elite, but I wanted to keep total mass to a minimum so the two-stroke engine seemed like the best option, especially since performance would be more important than reliability, noise, or fuel consumption for this concept vehicle.

The engine’s power would be transferred by a CVT to a limited-slip differential which in turn would manage the output allotted to the side-by-side tracks. The tracks could be created by Camoplast or Kimpex to fit the Farouche’s purpose, and they would feature an adjustable suspension with linked torsion bar.

The seats would be specially designed by Recaro and could be heated by the engine’s coolant or ambient air. Optionally, each seat could be equipped with its own independent suspension so the driver and passenger would each be able to program their own suspension comfort setting. To shed weight on the vehicle, improve stiffness on the frame, and reduce complexity, there would be no doors so the occupants could hop in from the back or the sides (Dukes of Hazzard style!).

What it’s used for

The Farouche would not be designed to ride all day long on bumpy trails. It’s a vehicle that you would take you and a friend for a short but exhilarating ride during the weekend. It would make a sensation in winter events such as the Grand Prix Ski-Doo de Valcourt or any other snowmobile events.

The Designer

The Farouche concept was developed in collaboration with Sebastian Campos Möller, an award winning Industrial Designer from Mexico. Sebastian graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design and specializes in 3D modeling for additive and subtractive prototyping and concept development for human-centered products. Sebastian has also produced the concept images for the Paragon concept.